Tuesday, March 14
Waco, TX
6:30 PM
Rice University
at
Baylor
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Open Road Stretch in Waco
3/13/2023 9:14:00 PM | Baseball
First of five away from home
Owls Open Road Stretch in Waco
Rice opens a stretch of seven games away from Reckling Park when the Owls travel to Waco for the first time since 2006 to take on Baylor at 6:30 on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast by Big12 Now on ESPN+ while JP Heath will have the call on the Varsity Network and RiceOwls.com.
How to Follow:
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Lincoln Rose (play-by-play) and Pat Combs (analyst)
Listen: Online / Varsity Network JP Heath (play-by-play)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Pitching Matchup
RHP Mauricio Rodriguez (0-2, 7.04/2.15), vs. RHP Will Rigney (0-0, 0.00/2.00)
The Road Ahead
Rice opens its final season of Conference USA baseball this weekend when the Owls face UAB in Birmingham, Alabama. The road stretch ends a week from Tuesday when they travel to College Station for the final of three games against Texas A&M.
In the Middle of the Week
Rice is now 3-1 this season in weeknight action, taking a home-and-home series with Sam Houston and downing UTRGV before losing to Texas A&M at Reckling Park last Wednesday.
Owls and Bears
Rice and Baylor met annually in the regular season through 2007, but last year's game at Reckling Park was the first on either campus since the annual series ended. Rice has only played three games at Baylor Ballpark since it opened it was dedicated in 2000 as well as once in 1999 while construction was being completed. The Owls lost in 1999, but have won the last three in the series in Waco, winning in 2001, 2004, and most recently in 2006. Since 2007 the schools played met five times between 2008-19 all of them officially at a neutral site. The schools met at Minute Maid Park for the Astros college tournament in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2019. The two did meet at Reckling Park in the winner's game of the 2011 Regional with Baylor serving as the home team. The Bears downed the top-seeded Owls 3-2 in the winner's bracket game but went on to drop a pair of games to California, who eventually reached the College World Series. The win was Baylor's first in 10 games against Rice at Reckling. The teams have met nine times in Houston at Minute Maid Park, with Rice holding a 6-3 lead (4-3 as Minute Maid Park, 2-0 as Enron Field).
Last Time Out: First Sweep at Home Since 2019
Rice rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven runs after the sixth inning to defeat Houston Christian 7-6 on Sunday and complete the Owls' first sweep of a home weekend series since they took three from Louisiana Tech on April 26-28, 2019. Rice took the opener 5-1 behind the pitching of Parker Smith and Matthew Linskey who combined to hold HCU to six hits and one run while striking out nine. On Saturday, Rice saw an early 7-2 lead turn into a 10-7 deficit before scoring seven times on just two hits in the bottom of the eighth. Connor Walsh hit .667 over the three games (6x9) with a double, homer and five RBI, Drew Holderbach was 5x10 and scored seven runs and Ben Royo was 4x8 and drove in six.
Formidable Slate Ahead
Rice's 2023 schedule ranked as the 27th toughest in the nation (and tops in Conference USA) heading into the weekend series with HCU/ The Owls faced the 52nd toughest schedule in the nation last year, the highest since they faced the 24th toughest in 2018. This year's lineup of 34 teams averaged 33 wins last year, highlighted by three games at Stanford (2022 CWS), two vs. Texas A&M (2022 CWS) and three-game series against NCAA tournament teams Louisiana, Louisiana Tech and Dallas Baptist.
Season Sweep2 of Bearkats
Benjamin Rosengard's fourth-inning, opposite-field grand slam, Rice's first on the road in nearly four years, keyed a six-run fourth and set the course for an 11-4 win for Rice of Sam Houston at Don Sanders Stadium on 2/28. The win was the Owls' fourth consecutive win in the series and their sixth straight at Don Sanders Stadium. Rice has swept the series with Sam Houston in consecutive years for the first time since winning all three in 1996 and both games in 1997 & 1999.
By Any Means
Rice has 15 bases loaded RBI in the first 16 games without putting the ball in play. Aaron Smigelski has been hit by a pitch with the bases loaded three times in seven plate appearances (twice on 2/28 at Sam Houston). Manny Garza, Christian Salazar and Connor Walsh have all been hit once with the bases loaded. Salazar has a pair of walks while Trey Duffield, Garza, Drew Holderbach, Max Johnson, Jack Riedel, Paul Smith and Connor Walsh have one free pass with the bases full.
Players Mentioned
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